The Time of Tempest

Family Life Should Not Be This Volatile. Not For This Long.

When my partner and I had young children, I knew to anticipate the stresses that come with infants, toddlers, elementary school children. The sleep-deprivation. The unexpected illnesses. The emotional squalls (theirs and mine). I expected life to be tumultuous for a while. That’s having kids!

I was fortunate that I spent a few years as a stay-at-home mother, until the financial crisis rose up and I dove headlong into the workforce just when I had two kids in elementary school and one in preschool, and just when I was working on my graduate degree at what is arguably a very challenging university. I was prepared to handle the challenges of my own studying and writing, paired with driving to baseball practice, reviewing a science fair project, sewing pointe shoes, reading a bedtime story, folding laundry, walking the dog, planning the week’s meals, and somehow not losing my mind.

It remains one of my privately proudest moments that, when asked where I wanted to have my celebratory graduation dinner, I replied, “There’s a 6:00 baseball game, and nothing’s as good as a ballpark hot dog with extra mustard and onions.” My eldest son was astonished that I chose 8th grade baseball over a steakhouse, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

We, too, will reflect on our children’s…